


Influencer

by littleficlets (addictedkitten)



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: M/M, Makeup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 00:19:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15107810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/addictedkitten/pseuds/littleficlets
Summary: It's not like it's a competition, but if Luke and Ashton are both going to experiment with makeup then Luke is definitely going to win.





	Influencer

Ashton acts like he’s the one who invented the concept of men wearing makeup, but Luke’s completely secure in the knowledge that this one started with him, at least in the band. None of them have ever minded a bit of nail polish but Luke was the one who upped the ante and went for rose gold. Suddenly now Ashton’s all roses and glitter as if Luke didn’t go glam rock first and get the new aesthetic going. Call him an influencer, it’s fine. 

“I’m really glad you’re wearing makeup too, Luke,” Ashton says. He leans in closer to the dressing room mirror, hogging it. Luke gracefully allows it. “It looks good on you. I think it’s a nice new visual direction for us as a band.” He carefully dips his finger into a pot of microfine gold glitter, then swipes it under his lower eyelashes. It catches in the light, sparkling like tears. 

“I’m going to put glitter on my eyelids,” Luke decides. Ashton gives him a skeptical look, as if wearing makeup like you’re supposed to is somehow controversial. At the last second Luke quails and pretends he wasn’t going for the black glitter shadow; it feels too easy to fuck up. What he puts on instead is sheer, a silvery blue that shifts in the light. “What do you think?” he asks Ashton, who’s pretending to do his hair but mostly looking at Luke out of the corner of his eye. 

“You look like an angel,” Ashton says. “A hungover angel.” 

Luke shrugs, pleased. He’ll take it. 

*

The YSL mascara isn’t cheap, but it is gold and sparkly. Also not as easy to put on as Luke had expected it would be, but whatever, he’s not some beauty guru, okay? _Yet_. 

“Mascara?” squawks Ashton. “Isn’t that a bit, you know?”

Luke waits for him to go on, serene. He has all day. He has all day, sparkly golden eyelashes, and a bitchin’ cat eye. 

“It’s just less Bowie and more Joan Jett at this point,” Ashton says finally, looking troubled. Looking also ethereal, with gold glitter fading to pink on his cheeks, and what looks like a light eye gloss as well. Luke’s fairly certainly he’s still winning this one, but it’s nice that Ashton’s willing to play. 

“Would you say you’re jealous that I can pull off Joan Jett better than you?” Luke asks. He bats his beautiful golden eyelashes.

“I think androgyny is sexy,” Michael says, passing by with a bottle of water from the fridge while also Facetiming his girlfriend. “Luke, you look really hot.” He aims his phone at Luke. 

“Wow, you do look really hot,” Crystal says. 

Luke preens. 

“I could do a Joan Jett thing!” Ashton says. “I look hot in eyeliner!”

From the dressing room couch Calum says, “You look hot in anything. Come do my glitter.” He doesn’t move from his position, lying down on his back with his eyes closed. 

Huffily, Ashton goes over and glitters up Calum’s cheekbones. 

“Do you think I'd look good in lipstick?” Luke asks Crystal and Michael. 

“100%,” Michael and Crystal agree. 

*

“You are such a fuck,” Ashton says, three days later, cornering Luke before their set as Luke expected he would, hoped he would. “Is this some weird competition we’re in? Are we one-upping each other with makeup, is that what’s happening? Some kind of femme-off?”

“So you admit you enjoy looking femme,” Luke says. Ashton’s leaned into it tonight, brought out the big guns: full on Fenty Trophy Wife highlighter on his cheekbones, glitter in his hair, skillfully applied gold eyeliner on a shimmering lid. His lips are bare, but Luke’s aren’t; it took some time at the local Sephora, but Luke’s got the perfect red flush on his lips courtesy Pat McGrath. He looks kissed, and roughly. He’s pretty sure the bratty thrill of one-upping Ashton - or something - is making him blush. He’s working it, anyway. “It’s okay, man. You can look pretty. You do look pretty.” 

“Masculine pretty though,” Ashton says, a little desperately. “Isn’t lipstick a bit too far?” He keeps staring at Luke’s mouth like he doesn’t understand it, like he wants to.

“It’s hot,” Luke says, taking care to approach gently, his fingertips light on Ashton’s jaw, tilting his face up a little closer. “Don’t you think it looks hot?” It’s a reckless, thrilling feeling to toy with Ashton like this - or not to toy with him, not when he looks so torn, not when Luke could help him understand. “Don’t you wanna try it?”

“Yeah,” Ashton says finally, licking his lips, his hands warm on Luke’s shoulders, so Luke leans in. Ashton closes his eyes, and Luke kisses him firmly, careful with a closed mouth that makes him want more, harder, to see what Ashton would let him do, what Ashton would want to do to him - but after not enough time Ashton’s pushing back, breaking away with a gasp of breath and a red, kissed mouth. Luke reaches out automatically to fix a little smear at the corner of Ashton’s mouth where his kiss grew clumsy, too eager, and Ashton lets him, his eyelids fluttering closed, centering himself. 

“You look beautiful,” Luke tells him, his voice breaking a little in the middle of it, something else in him breaking at the thought of more than this, Ashton looking after him, telling him he’s lovely and being good to him. Glitter-smeared bedsheets and breakfast in the morning with someone who really loves him. Attention from someone who actually knows him and loves him anyway. Ashton, just Ashton. 

Ashton giggles a bit, his cheeks flushing red under gold, and says, “We both do.” He holds out his hand for Luke to take, his grip warm and sure, and leads them both to the stage.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This fic is on Tumblr if you'd to [share it](http://cyclogenesis.tumblr.com/post/175396903091/cheating-as-a-fic-prompt-because-i-already-wrote). I welcome feedback and love getting comments! If you'd like to talk to me about this story or just say hello, my [askbox is always open](http://cyclogenesis.tumblr.com/ask).


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